Photo credit: AFP
Tourists who were near the crater the Nyiragongo volcano in the Democratic Republic Congo erupted are safe, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) said Sunday. Nor were the rare mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park threatened by the eruption, the institute added.
Source: Tourists and gorillas ‘safe’ after DRC volcano eruption
At least six rangers in DR Congo’s Virunga national park, famous for its mountain gorillas, were killed in an attack officials blamed on a militia group.
Source: At least six Virunga national park rangers killed in attack
Source: DRC: Access to Kahuzi-Biega Park blocked by rangers in a bid to claim their wages
Source: UNESCO condemns the murder of two guards at Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Source: DRC’s Okapi Wildlife Reserve gets new management partner in WCS
High-stakes conflict threatens DR Congo gorillas…
A deadly conflict is brewing between those forced out of the DRC’s Kahuzi-Biéga national park and the rangers charged with protecting it.
Coming face to face with Grauer’s Gorillas in the Congo is an unforgettable experience
A world without okapi would be a very sad place.
Source: 11 amazing UNESCO World Heritage sites in danger of disappearing forever
An opaque Guernsey-owned company’s oil contract threatening Salonga National Park in Democratic Republic Congo could be null and void, according to our legal analysis.
Source: Null and void? CoMiCo’s oil aspirations in DRC | Global Witness
We all know that losing a parent can be one of the most tragic days of a person’s life. This photo that was taken by photographer Phil Moore shows us that that the feelings of loss and sadness that come with losing a mother aren’t limited to the human species. Read on to find out.
DR of Congo – Salonga National Park
The largest protected tropical rainforest in Africa – Salonga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo – is at risk from oil exploration thanks to a secretive deal with an opaque company.
As we have previously revealed, the Democratic Republic of Congo government is attempting to reclassify swathes of two UNESCO protected World Heritage Sites – Salonga and Virunga National Parks – to allow oil exploration to take place. In our new investigation, we shine a light on the opaque ownership and secret deals of one company that potentially stands to gain from government attempts to open up the area to oil, COMICO, which was allocated an oil block that partially overlaps Salonga National Park.
We expose how individuals involved in the original deal to purchase these controversial oil rights include a politically connected individual, a convicted fraudster, a businessman embroiled in the Brazilian ‘Car Wash’ scandal and mysterious shell companies.
Moreover, the details of the contract remain unknown, in contravention of Congo’s own oil law.
Read more from source: Not For Sale: Congo’s forests must be protected from the fossil fuels industry | Global Witness
DR of Congo – Salonga National Park
Salonga park sits on peatlands that scientists say could release massive quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere if disturbed
DAKAR, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s oil minister on Thursday defended the country’s right to explore for oil anywhere on its territory after media reports that President Joseph Kabila approved drilling in Africa’s largest tropical rainforest reserve.
Oil minister Aime Ngoy Mukena declined to confirm a report in Germany’s Die Tageszeitung newspaper that Kabila had this month authorised exploration inside Salonga National Park, but he said that no land should be off-limits.
Salonga, a UNESCO World Heritage site, covers 33,350 sq km of the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest. It is home to rare species including bonobos, forest elephants, dwarf chimpanzees and Congo peacocks.
The park in central Congo’s Cuvette Centrale also sits on peatlands that scientists say could release massive quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmsophere if disturbed.
Ngoy Mukena said the government was mindful of environmental considerations but was intent on developing its hydrocarbons sector.
Source: Congo defends right to explore for oil in national parks
DR of Congo – Garamba National Park
Garamba National Park in northeastern Congo is one of the most dangerous places to be a wildlife ranger and one of the most difficult places to save elephants from rampaging militias.
Kambale Mate huddled beneath a tangle of grass, looking up at bright stars in a moonless sky, a tumble of chaotic events cascading through his mind.
Where were the other wildlife rangers, Jean de Dieu Matongo and Joel Meriko Ari? Were they alive?
He had been a ranger for only five months at Garamba National Park, the last remaining preserve for disappearing populations of elephants and giraffes in this part of Africa. Yet here he was with two comrades, hiding like small, petrified mammals in the grass. If any of them moved, a large band of poachers nearby could find and kill them.
DR of Congo – Kahuzi-Biega National Park
The international community, including governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations, have spent 10 days at the annual meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee—the decision-making body of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention—in Krakow, Poland. We have been here for WCS, and it’s been both encouraging and disheartening. From the destruction of ancient ruins in areas of war and civil conflict, such as cultural sites in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, to careless development in major urban areas, many of our planet’s World Heritage sites are well-known and received plenty of media attention – but some are not.
DR of Congo – Okapi Wildlife Reserve
On June 1, the Okapi Conservation Project celebrated its 30th Anniversary. Mongabay interviewed John Lukas, the project’s founder, to learn more about the successes and challenges of okapi conservation.
The discovery of the elusive okapi, once believed to be a mythical unicorn, was one of the most exciting taxonomic findings of the twentieth century.
DR of Congo – Virunga National Park
DR of Congo – Virunga National Park
From sheltering some of the globe’s most endangered species to showcasing astonishing patterns of migration, Africa’s national parks are among the world’s most spectacular.
DR of Congo – Virunga National Park
Rodrigue Katembo has quite a resume: child soldier, park ranger, undercover agent, friend of gorillas and elephants. And now, he is a Goldman Environmental Prize winner.
